Topic: GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD - Church of God Mission International - CGMI ADULT SUNDAY MANUAL - 4 December 2022

Topic: GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD – Church of God Mission International – CGMI ADULT SUNDAY MANUAL – 4 December 2022

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CGMI ADULT SUNDAY MANUAL

SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2022

HYMN:
S,S & S 877 “STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF GOD”

TOPIC:
“GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD“

TEXT:
2PETER 1:1-4

CENTRAL THOUGHT:
The promises of God are of His grace and realisable through faith

INTRODUCTION:
The Bible is full of God’s promises to His people. Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, in his letter to the believers, qualified these promises with two powerful adjectives “Great and Precious”, to emphasize the importance and value placed on them. Therefore, they are not to be taken for granted. They are of things that pertain to life and godliness, obtainable by faith through the knowledge of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. These promises are freely given but with conditions. God is always willing to fulfill His promises in the lives of those who honour and obey Him. In His love and willingness to ensure that His people do not miss His blessings, God gave His only begotten Son through whom all His promises are fulfilled (2Cor 1:20). God is faithful and true to His promises and will not deny Himself.
Let us therefore leverage on God’s provisions in Christ to ensure that we do not miss out on any of His promises for believers.

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this study are to:

Understand the faithfulness of God
Know the reliability of God’s word
Know those, to whom the promises are given and
Know the hinderances to actualising the promises and know what our attitude should be in case of unfulfilled or delayed promises

BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1
WHAT CAN WE SAY OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS FROM 1CHRON. 29:11-12; NUM 23:19 ?
The personality and faithfulness of God is far beyond what we can imagine. God is great and powerful. He is glorious in form and appearance, excellent and sovereign in power. He is the maker and owner of all things in heaven and earth. He is the KING of all Kings, the King of the kingdom of heaven, a royal majesty with unimaginable wealth. He cannot in anyway, be compared with any creature in heaven or on earth. He is too faithful to fail. He stands by His word to perform it. God does not go back on His promises, whatever He promised to do, He goes all out to ensure that they are done. He is faithful, reliable, trustworthy, dependable, loving, patient and slow to anger. He is Holy and has no pleasure in evil.

QUESTION 2
HOW RELIABLE IS THE WORD OF HIM THAT HAS GIVEN THE PROMISES ? Isa 55:8-11; 2Pt 3:9.
The reliability of any word of promise is dependent on the integrity of the one who gave the promise. God is the one who made these promises. The existence of all creatures is the evidence of the reliability of His word, because all creations came into being by His word. In question one, we were able to examine the character of God. The impeccability of God’s character and personality is enough evidence for one to believe that His promises are most reliable. The presence of Jesus Christ on earth is an undeniable of the reliability of God’s word, because Jesus is the promise of God. Our salvation is His promise. Everyone who is saved by grace is an evidence of how reliable His promises are. Just as He is unchangeable, so are His promises. They remained true and sure, so we can rely on Him and His word that neither change nor fails.

QUESTION 3A
WHO ARE THE PROMISES OF GOD GIVEN TO ? 2Pt 1:1; Psa 1:1-2; Jer 7:23
In 2Pt 1:1-2, it is clearly stated that the promises are for those who have obtained precious faith as the Apostles, through the righteousness of Christ our Saviour. It is for those he considers qualified that live in obedience to the conditions attached. It is not by one’s position, title, achievement or financial contribution to the development of the church. It comes by grace, based on the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Saviour, through Holy living in obedience to the word of God by the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells in the individual beleiver

QUESTION 3B.
WHAT AREAS OF LIFE DO GOD’S PROMISES APPLY ? 2Pt 1:3-4; Psalms 37:3-5; Duet 28:2-14
Generally, God’s promises apply to all area of human life which we can classify into two- physical and spiritual life (2Pt1:3)
I. OUR PHYSICAL LIFE: This refer to our physical activities as human beings. God’s promises apply to every activity of Han life, which includes::protection/security, relationship, health, occupation, education, business, wealth creation, marriage and others. In summary, they apply to all physical provisions for our wellbeing and existence
II. OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE: Personal relationship with God and our service to Him such as, our reverential fear for Him, obedience to His word, worship, honour to Him, our love for Him, in prayers, salvation of our souls, eternal life in His kingdom, our commitment to His service in the church, and the likes. God’s promises are said to have been freely given to us, yet, they can only be actualised in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour through faith and obedience to His written word and instructions through the ministration of His Spirit

QUESTION 4A.
WHAT ARE THE HINDERANCES TO ACTUALISING GOD’S PROMISES IN AN INDIVIDUAL’S LIFE ? 1Sam 15:22-23; Gal 6:7-8; James 1:6-8; 2Pt 1:1-4
There are so many things that can hinder an individual from receiving or actualising the promises of God. These includes:
I. FAITHFULNESS AND DOUBT: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). A doubtful person is unstable and may not believe in the existence of the promises
II. IGNORANCE OF THE WORD OF GOD: An individual who is not conversant with the word of Goday not be aware of the provisions for such promises. Of course, one cannot be seeking for what he has no knowledge of.
III. DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS: A careful study of God’s promises will reveal that all have conditions of ‘obedience’ attached. Disobedience to God’s word is a great hinderance to actualising any of His promises
IV. SINFUL LIFE: God hates sin. Anyone living in sin is an abominable person before Him, so such person cannot actualise His promises, except he/she repents

QUESTION 4 B.
WHAT SHOULD BE OUR ATTITUDES WHEN IT APPEARS THAT GOD’S PROMISES HAVE NOT BEEN FULFILLED, OR SEEMS DELAYED ?
Our attitude in a situation of non-fulfilment or apparent delay of God’s promises should be, to first examine ourselves whether we are still in the faith. Examine our personal relationship with Him, check out level of obedience to His instructions, confirm whether we have fulfilled the conditions attached to the promise we seek to actualize, and ensure that we have asked in faith , without faith it is impossible to receive anything from God. If our examination reveals a shortfall in our spiritual state, we should confess our sins with a repentant heart, and ask for forgiveness and restoration. If on the other hand, we are sure we can stand before Him and boldly declare our faithfulness, then there is need for patience. “……the vision is for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, it will not lie though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habak 2:3)

DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Knowing whom our God is, let us believe Him and His word. All the promises of our God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Let us act and stand firm on His promises, fully persuaded that He cannot fail. We need to be steadfast in our faith, patiently waiting for His appointed time. “For he who has promised is faithful”

MEMORY VERSE
2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

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